


The Real Hero

by Heckyheck_Icravedeath



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Crying, Dont read if you havent seen the movie yet, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everything Hurts, Heavy Angst, Help, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Made Myself Cry, I'm Sorry, Okay but like serious spoilers, Pepper Potts Feels, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Feels, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, The Author Regrets Everything, big rip mate, im really sad, y e e t
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-02-18 14:32:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18701521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heckyheck_Icravedeath/pseuds/Heckyheck_Icravedeath
Summary: ENDGAME SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!~Peter gazed at his mentor intensely, silently willing him to not do what Peter knew he was about to do.“And I….” Tony rasped. “Am...IronMan.” He smirked through his pain and snapped his fingers.A bright light flashed from the stones and then dark fell over the scene once more. The dark made Peter’s gut twist with fear because he couldn’tseeTony, couldn’tfindTony.





	1. Chapter 1

Peter gazed at his mentor intensely, silently willing him to not do what Peter knew he was about to do.

“And I….” Tony rasped. “Am...IronMan.” He smirked through his pain and snapped his fingers. 

A bright light flashed from the stones and then dark fell over the scene once more. The dark made Peter’s gut twist with fear because he couldn’t _see_ Tony, couldn’t _find_ Tony. 

What he could see was Thanos turning to dust a few feet away. It was satisfying to watch, to see the Mad Titan himself flake away into tiny particles with a defeated look. Although, that satisfied feeling lasted approximately three seconds because Tony was still nowhere to be seen and Peter _needed_ him. 

Then somehow God was on his side and there was Rhodes, flying off to the right. Peter knew Rhodes would be going to Tony, so he followed with hope bubbling in his chest. 

That hope was soon crushed when he got a look at Tony and his half burned face. He looked straight ahead with a blank expression. Fear snaked through Peter’s veins and grasped him with its deadly claws. Why was that expression on his face? It shouldn’t be there. It showed that Tony wasn’t okay, but he had to be okay. He just _had_ to. “Mr. Stark?” He fought off the tears. He couldn’t cry now. Not yet. Not when there was still time for things to be turned around.

“Hey.” Peter’s voice betrayed him by getting watery and breaking. “Mr. Stark. Can you hear me? It’s Peter.” He got no response and soon enough his eyes betrayed him too, leaving tears trailing down his cheeks. “We won. Mr. Stark.” Still nothing. Just a blank stare. He tried again with whatever hope he had left. “We won, Mr. Stark. We won.” _Nothing_. “You did it, sir, you did it.” He tried one last time, desperation leaking into his tone. 

More silence. 

That’s when Peter knew that no matter how much he pleaded, no matter how much desperation showed in his voice, there was no getting Tony Stark out of this. It was already over. 

Peter choked back a sob and whispered, “I’m sorry, Tony.” 

_Tony_.

Peter wasn’t supposed to say his name like this, in _this_ situation. It was supposed to be different. It was supposed to be in a happy situation. A situation like them playing a board game. The board game being Sorry(Peter loved that game). He would have dragged Tony to play with him along with Pepper and Happy. They would have been seated on the floor in the living room of the tower, the game scattered around them, laughs falling from all of their lips. Tony would have made a move that completely _screwed_ Peter over. Peter, without missing a single beat, would have said “What the _fuck, Anthony_.” Tony would have been all shocked and happy that Peter had _finally_ not said “Mr. Stark.” They all would have laughed - yes even Pepper - and Tony would have affectionately ruffled Peter’s hair before saying, “Holy shit. He called me by my first name. I never thought I’d see the day.” Peter would have scoffed and shook his head with a smile. Then Tony would have turned back to the game to screw Peter over some more with an evil grin. 

That’s how it _should_ have went, but that’s not how it _did_. Of course it didn’t go that way. When did things ever go Peter’s way? 

A hand on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts and he turned to see Pepper. She had tears falling down her face as well. She pulled Peter to his feet and wrapped an arm around him for a few moments. Peter appreciated it, but it only made more tears trickle out of his eyes. 

Pepper gave him the best smile she could muster before releasing him and crouching in front of Tony. She placed her hand on Tony’s arc reactor. “Hey.” There was a flicker of a smile on Tony’s lips. But then it disappeared just as fast as it had come. 

“Friday?” Pepper asked softly. She seemed like she knew what Friday was going to say, the sagged shoulders and painstricken face said so. 

Peter knew too. 

“Life functions critical.” 

Pepper chewed her lower lip for a moment before saying, “Tony. Look at me. We are gonna be okay.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You can rest now.” 

_No, please don’t rest now. I need you_. 

Peter shook his head helplessly. He wasn’t ready to lose Tony yet. He wasn’t ready to lose Tony _ever_. Yet apparently it didn’t matter if he was ready or not because it was happening. 

And just like that, the light of the arc reactor flickered off. The blue light that always made Peter feel safe and happy was no longer there. It was just _gone_. 

Pepper pressed a kiss to Tony’s cheek and let out a quiet sob. Peter did too, but his sob was louder. He sank to the ground and curled into a ball, hoping to block the world out, hoping that he would just wake up from whatever nightmare this was. 

It wasn’t a nightmare though and deep down he knew that. He really did. It was just that most of his brain refused to believe it because Tony had _promised_ that he wouldn’t leave Peter. 

That conversation had taken place on the anniversary of Ben’s death. Peter had been in a terrible mood and he had been in self-blame mode. Tony had sat him down and made him talk about it, which Peter was somewhat grateful that he was willing to listen. Tony had apologized when Peter finished his story and then said, “It’ll be alright, Underoos. Plus, you have me. I’ll always be here, no matter what. I promise.” 

Tony _never_ broke his promises. 

But there was always a first time for everything, wasn’t there?


	2. Chapter 2

Peter _hated_ funerals. 

He had been familiar with them all his life. Granted, he didn’t really remember his parents’ funeral because he had been so young. He _did_ remember a few parts like all the black clothing and all the tears that people shed. It wasn’t a pleasant memory. 

Then there was Ben’s funeral. That had been actual _hell_. He remembered it _very_ clearly. He remembered feeling all that guilt. It had felt like he was drowning in it. He knew he could’ve stopped it if he had just _tried_. But he didn’t because he had to be a selfish kid. 

He also remembered not being able to breathe because he had sobbed so hard and the speech that May had to read and watching them lower the casket into the ground. 

After that Peter had accepted that he wasn’t meant to have a father figure. Then life threw another curveball at him and Tony Stark waltzed into his life. 

Peter had been stupid enough to let himself get close with Tony. He had been stupid enough to think that life would actually let him keep a father figure. He had been stupid enough to think that it would turn out okay for once. 

And so there he was, sitting on the couch in Tony and Pepper’s cottage, getting ready for Tony’s funeral. 

There was a recording that Pepper had wanted to show them before the actual ceremony. Tony had recorded it on one of his IronMan helmets and so the helmet sat on the table, flashing a hologram of Tony sitting in a chair. 

Just the sight of Tony brought tears to Peter’s eyes. He didn’t know if he could do it, listen to what Tony had to say, but Happy wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulder, offering him comfort and that made Peter stay seated and look at the hologram. He took a deep breath and let the sound of Tony’s voice fill his ears. “Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn’t always roll that way. Maybe this time.” 

_Not a happy ending this time. Definitely not. Not if you’re dead._

The message continued. 

“I’m hoping if you play this back, it’s in celebration. I hope families are reunited. I hope we get it back and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored. If there ever was such a thing. God, what a world. Universe now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren’t alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But come on, you know? That epic forces of darkness and light have to come into play. And for better or worse, that’s the reality Morgan’s going to have to grow up in. So I found the time and I recorded a little greeting in case of an untimely death on my part.” 

Peter swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“I mean, not that death at any time isn’t untimely. This time travel thing that we’re going to try and pull off tomorrow, it’s got me scratching my head about the survivability of it. Then again that’s the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. I’ve made this journey before. Everything’s going to work out exactly the way it’s supposed to.”

 _What if the way that things are supposed to be isn’t the way you want it to be?_

Hologram Tony stood from his chair and his gaze fell to Morgan. A loving smile appeared on his lips. “I love you three thousand.” 

Then his gaze met with Peter’s. “I’m sorry that I broke my promise. I love you, Underoos.” 

With that, the hologram disappeared and suddenly the tears that Peter had been trying to fight off started to fall from his eyes. Happy noticed and pulled Peter closer, putting a second arm around him. Peter turned and buried his face in Happy’s neck, not even trying to hold back the sobs that shook his body. 

A few minutes passed, and Peter knew that they needed to start the funeral, so he pulled away from Happy and wiped at the tears on his cheeks. Happy flashed him a sympathetic smile before standing and making his way to the door. 

Peter followed suit with sagging shoulders. 

The air outside was warm, and the sun shone brightly. It gave off such a happy vibe, and Peter despised it. It seemed as if Earth was ignoring the fact that it had lost its best defender and that was something that you couldn’t just _ignore_. 

He shook his head and turned his attention away from the weather and onto the little wreath of flowers in Pepper’s arms that had the arc reactor that said, ‘proof that Tony Stark has a heart’ in the middle of it. 

She walked to the end of the dock and lowered herself, so she could gently place the flowers and arc reactor on the water. She gave it a little push and it started to float off across the greenish blue surface. 

Peter sucked in a breath and tore his eyes away from the arc reactor. He knew that if he kept looking at it, he would burst into tears. 

He let his eyes settle on little Morgan Stark who stood next to her mother. He felt terrible for Morgan. She’d have to grow up just like Peter did; without a father. 

Peter vowed that he’d be there for Morgan no matter what. He knew how hard it was to function after losing a father and he didn’t want her to have to go through that alone. 

After Pepper said a few words and everyone broke off into groups to talk, Peter sought out Morgan. He spotted her sitting on the edge of the dock, so he set off towards her. 

“Hi.” He settled down next to her. She turned her head and looked at him with a smile. 

“Hi. You’re Peter right?” She asked with a tilt of her head. 

“That’s me. How’d you know?” 

“My dad talked about you a lot. He always said that you were a pain in his butt, but he also said that he loved you.” 

Peter smiled sadly. His heart cracked a little more at that. God, he missed Tony so much, it was _excruciating_. 

“I loved him too. He was a great guy.” 

“Yeah.” Morgan agreed and looked back out across the water. “He used to tell me all these stories before bed and then during the day sometimes we would go get cheeseburgers and fries. He _loved_ cheeseburgers.” She laughed a little. It was nice to hear that laugh after all the tears from everyone else. 

“He really did. He used to make me eat them almost every time we would work in the labs. I started to hate them after a while.” Peter remembered all the times that Tony _made_ him eat cheeseburgers. It was actually the worst and Peter only ate them because then Tony would finally stop bothering him about it. 

“He would do that. He was a weirdo.” Morgan placed her hands in her lap and chewed on her lip. “He’s in a good place right? Like it’s nice there and he is happy?” 

“Yeah, he’s happy where he is. It’s really pretty there and I bet that he has all the cheeseburgers that he wants.” Peter reassured her. “Don’t worry, kid.” She brightened at his response. 

“Good. I want that for him.” She moved to cross her arms across her chest. “And I’m not a kid!” Peter chuckled. 

“You sound _just_ like me.” He couldn’t even count how many times he had said ‘I’m not a kid’ in the past. It was basically the number one thing in his vocabulary. 

Morgan grinned. “That’s a good thing.” 

“Are you sure about that?” 

“Yes, I am.” She shoved him with _all_ of her five-year-old strength. Peter exaggerated the shove and pretended to almost fall over the side of the deck causing Morgan to reach out for him while laughing.

“I’m _very_ smart for my age, so don’t question me.” She said after “pulling” him back towards her. 

“Alright, you win. I won’t question you. But that’s only because if I don’t, I feel like you’ll push me again.” 

“I won’t agree or disagree with that.” She stated while shuffling closer to Peter’s side. 

The mood shifted into a serious one and she went quiet for a moment before speaking softly. “Thank you for being here with me.” Peter smiled and wrapped his arm around her tiny shoulders. 

“Of course. And I hate to tell you this, but you’re stuck with me from now on.” 

“Good. I’ve always wanted a brother.” When she said that, Peter melted. It was the cutest thing ever, and he felt happy. _Genuinely_ happy. 

“And I’ve always wanted a sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D e p r e s s i o n. 
> 
> Okay, but seriously, I'm still sad about Endgame and I don't know what to do l m a o. 
> 
> Alsooo, I fucking live for Morgan and Peter's relationship. Fucking pure beans right there. 
> 
> Please leave a like or comment if you liked it!<333

**Author's Note:**

> :,) 
> 
> I really miss Tony. Please help me. I literally have no stopped crying over this and it's been a whole fucking week. R i p. Ahem, well, it's okay. Everything is _fine_
> 
> There will be a part two! It'll be more sad 'cause it's like the funeral they had for Tony. So. Yeah. Ssksksks.
> 
> Please leave a like or comment!


End file.
